1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital object delivery systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for optimizing transmission resources to provide efficient and profitable transmission of digital objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the increased popularity of e-commerce, many customers are now purchasing objects of an essentially digital nature on the world wide web. Typical examples of such objects include CDs containing music or other audio, and DVDs containing movies or other video. But there are many other examples, including video games and other software. At present customers who purchase such digital objects generally have the object sent to them via mail or a similar private delivery service. In the near future, it will probably become more economical and more satisfactory to deliver such digital objects electronically. The customer may receive the digital object more quickly, for example. The e-commerce merchant need not maintain or create a large inventory.
One major means of electronic delivery may involve utilizing spare bandwidth in a broadcast environment such as cable TV, satellite TV, or TV via the airwaves. In today""s TV environment, for example, some spare bandwidth usually exists even when a channel is broadcasting normal programming, typically in the form of the so-called vertical blanking interval or VBI. Similarly, some channels will go xe2x80x9cdarkxe2x80x9d in the middle of the night or possibly at other times, potentially leaving the entire channel bandwidth available for broadcasting digital objects.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for management and allocation of spare bandwidth in a manner which optimizes the revenue and ultimately the profits of e-commerce merchant""s delivery service.
A method for scheduling delivery of digital objects over a network, in accordance with the invention, includes the steps of providing a user interface for selecting objects to be transmitted thereto, selecting at least one object to be transmitted to the user interface, identifying and receiving in-progress object transmissions corresponding to the at least one selected object, identifying portions of the at least one object not yet received to request transmission of the portions of the at least one object not yet received and receiving remaining portions of the at least one object during additional in-progress transmissions.
Another method for scheduling delivery of digital objects from a transmission source having a finite number of transmission channels having scheduled transmissions comprising the steps of providing a plurality of user interfaces having a capability for selecting digital objects to be transmitted from the transmission source, the transmission source providing cyclical transmissions of the digital objects over available channel bandwidth, selecting from a user interface an object to be transmitted to the user interface, identifying in-progress object transmissions corresponding to the selected object, receiving at least a portion of the selected object from the in-progress object transmissions, identifying remaining portions of the selected object not yet received to request transmission of the remaining portions of the object and receiving the remaining portions of the object during additional in-progress transmissions.
In alternate methods, the step of reassembling portions of the at least one object initially received and the remaining portions of the at least one object (reassembling portions of the selected object) may be included. The method may further include the step of transmitting the digital objects in cyclic order to be received by the user interface. A transmission source for transmitting the at least one object may be included and the step of managing channels of varying bandwidths and a plurality of objects which are to be delivered via these channels in accordance with costs which depend on achieved delivery time of the plurality of objects may also be included.
The methods may further include the step of determining when to deliver each object and which channel to use to carry each object such that a total amount of revenue obtained from the delivery of the objects is highly or the most profitable. The method may also include the steps of determining an amount of time needed to deliver an object pursuant to a request from the user interface, and offering delivery options which at least meet the amount of time. The method may include the steps of dynamically deciding which delivery times are profitable and offering a customer a number of delivery time options which have a highest profitability. The method may also include the step of discounting costs for delivery of the objects to encourage customers to choose among the number of delivery time options. The method may include the step of scheduling the delivery of the at least one object over a plurality channels such that the delivery of the at least one object is profitable.
A system for scheduling delivery of digital objects over a network includes at least one user interface for selecting objects to be transmitted thereto, the user interface for identifying and receiving in-progress object transmissions corresponding to the selected objects. A transmission source is employed for transmitting objects to the at least one user interface, the transmission source providing cyclical object transmissions. A scheduler manages usage of network channels and object transmission priority. The scheduler is responsive to requests of the at least one user interface to provide remaining portions of the selected objects not yet received during the in-progress transmission.
In alternate embodiments, the scheduler preferably manages channels of varying bandwidths and a plurality of objects which are to be delivered via these channels in accordance with costs which depend on achieved delivery time of the plurality of objects. The scheduler may include a mechanism for determining when to deliver each object and which channel to use to carry each object such that a total amount of revenue obtained from the delivery of the objects is profitable. The scheduler may include a mechanism for determining an amount of time needed to deliver an object pursuant to a request from the at least one user interface for offering delivery options which at least meet the amount of time. The scheduler preferably provides scheduling for the delivery of the objects over a plurality channels such that the delivery of the objects is profitable. The user interface may include a televison. The network may include a televison network, a satellite network or a cable network.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.